As the year draws to a close, we are forced to say goodbye to the television show that has hogged our TV screens since early September. The X Factor is, I find, such a massive part of the music industry in the UK and Ireland, and it is with guilty pleasure that we all watch it religiously, every Saturday evening, waiting for the outcome.
It all started in 2004, when television producer Simon Cowell wanted a replacement for the highly successful Pop Idol. In his quest to find new singing talent in Britain, he founded The X Factor which was chaired by a panel of judges - Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne. It soon became the biggest talent competition in Europe and was very popular with viewers. Receiving hundreds of thousands of auditionees every year, it was clear that The X Factor was becoming absolutely massive in the music industry. The winner of The X Factor would receive a recording contract worth £1 million.
The first season of The X Factor was broadcast in September 2004 and ended in December that same year producing the show’s first winner, Steve Brookstein, who went on to release an album (Titled Heart and Soul). There have been six winners since Brookstein, including artists who are now well known in the media, such as Leona Lewis (2006), Shayne Ward (2005), and Alexandra Burke (2008). The current season has yet to finish, the finals will air on 11th of December.
A US version of the X Factor was aired on September 21st 2011.
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Marcus K.
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